Two children of Expediency Council chair to run in Iran's parliamentary elections

Fatemeh and Mohsen Hashemi Rafsanjani, whose father is moderate Iranian cleric Ayatollah Rafsanjani, have registered their names to run for a seat in Parliament. They both registered on Friday, the final day of registration.

Fatemeh Hashemi is one of the founding members of the Moderation and Development Party, the party of Iranian President Hassan Rohani.

Mohsen Hashemi Rafsanjani is the eldest son of Ayatollah Rafsanjani. He served as the CEO of the Tehran subway for 13 years and resigned in 2010. He was the chief candidate endorsed by reformists for the post of Mayor of Tehran in the fourth session of the Tehran Council. He lost by one vote to Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Fatemeh and Mohsen Hashemi Rafsanjani after registering their candidacy

Mehdi Hashemi, another son of the chairman of the Expediency Council, is serving a ten-year prison sentence for “embezzlement, bribery and security issues”.

Faezeh Hashemi, another daughter of Ayatollah Rafsanjani, is a member of the Executives of Construction Party and served as an MP in the fifth parliament. She was sentenced and served a six-month jail term for her journalistic background and her connection to opposition leader MirHosein Mousavi during the controversial 2009 election.